Obstruction light beacons are usually placed on varying styles of towers that have varying heights and configurations. Typically, the higher the tower the greater the lighting requirements. Obstruction light beacon systems are different from most other lighting systems in that they must output very high light intensity along the horizon so that obstructions are clearly marked for pilots to see. Obstruction light beacon systems must also have a very narrow vertical beam spread so that this very high light intensity is not directed downward into residential areas. In addition, obstruction light system requirements for towers normally require that light be output in a 360 degree fashion around the horizontal axis of the tower and that the obstruction lighting provide different intensity levels as a function of the ambient light level.
Currently, multiple obstruction lights are placed around the tower. However, due to current obstruction light designs each obstruction light fixture requires an independent power supply, cabling and monitoring. Each power supply, wiring and monitoring can add up to be a significant portion of the overall cost to install the obstruction lights on the tower.
In addition, obstruction lights are designed to provide a complete 360 degree coverage for each individual obstruction lights. However, when the obstruction light is mounted on the tower, some of the light may be blocked by the tower itself. As a result, some of the light output of the obstruction light and the power provided to drive the light output is wasted. Therefore, additional obstruction lights must be placed on the same level of the tower in order to provide light to horizontal angles where the light is blocked by the tower.